Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Clerk’ on VOD, a Flattering Biographical Documentary About Filmmaker Kevin Smith

This week in Movies That Might Not Have Aged Well is Clerk — now on VOD — the career-retrospective documentary about filmmaker-slash-multi-hyphenate entertainer Kevin Smith. We all know how a scrappy young Smith made retail-hell comedy Clerks on a shoestring and became a ’90s indie-film stalwart. Well, this nonfic bio tells us about it again, as well as a series of highlights and lowlights from the 25-odd years of his diverse career since then, which incorporates a bunch of endeavors under a personality-driven Kevin Smith (Tee Emm) niche-market brand. It also poses two questions: Does it tell us anything we don’t already know? And is it a warm hug, or a big, long sloppy-wet kiss on the mouth?

‘CLERK’: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The film opens with fuzzy old VHS footage of teenage mullet-boy Smith in 1992. In a message to his parents, he talks about his hopes, dreams and fears as he prepares to leave for the Vancouver Film School. Then we see a shot of the first draft of Clerks, dated from that same year. Two years hence, he’d have dropped out of film school, scraped together enough gear and money to shoot the movie in the cruddy corner convenience store where he worked — and, quite improbably, screened it at Cannes and Sundance, landing him critical raves (“Howard Stern meets David Mamet”) and a distribution deal at Miramax. Not bad for a guy raised on the working-class Jersey Shore, which we see via drone shot as Springsteen’s My Hometown plays. The doc doesn’t tell us how exactly Smith jumped from the humble Jersey suburbs to Hollywood’s good graces, but it does establish a cordial tone, so at this point, we should keep our expectations for the rest of the movie modest.

We then meet Smith’s mom and brother via interviews, and learn that his late postal-worker father used to pull him out of school to go to movies — that’s some serious Cool Dad cred. Smith talks about how he saw Richard Linklater’s Slacker and was inspired to make low-budget movies; cue commentary from Linklater himself, and Jason Reitman, who calls Smith “the voice of a generation,” which is a nice thing to say, although we kind of want to amend it to say “the voice of a piece of a generation,” because as relentlessly Gen-X/’90s as Smith’s films are, he’s part of a chorus that includes filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee and such. But like I said, this is a cordial hug-’n’-kiss doc, which doesn’t even mention the Great Smith-vs.-Southwest Airlines Flap of 2010.

Anyway. On we go through Smith’s career: How his second film, Mallrats, a reflection of his love for comic book culture and Johns Hughes and Landis-style comedies, flopped, but established his friendship with his idol Stan Lee (who was interviewed for Clerk prior to his 2018 death). How Chasing Amy was ahead of its time in telling an LGBTQ+ story. How Dogma stirred up Catholic League controversy. How, in Smith’s own words, “Judd Apatow movies are Kevin Smith movies that are well-made” (a bold claim, but an accurate one). How he was a few steps ahead of the Marvel Comics boom. How he established his View Askew-niverse of characters. How Smith’s films from the last 20 years never really experienced any notable commercial success, but range impressively from political-firebrand satire (Red State) to insane horror (Tusk) to fodder catered specifically for the Smith niche (Clerks II, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot). But Smith’s filmmaking is now only a piece of what he does: “I wound up being myself for a living,” he says, as we learn about his podcast empire, his prolific public-speaking tours, his Silent Bob persona on Funko Pops, his comic book store back in Jersey, etc. How he has a new outlook after a scary heart attack in 2018. Bottom line, the guy’s pretty happy with the way his life and career turned into a geek’s dream.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Clerk is Spielberg if Spielberg had been titled Shark.

Performance Worth Watching: Linklater gives the most astute contextual commentary on Smith’s mostly modest, occasionally pivotal legacy and influence, without getting too heavily congratulatory.

Memorable Dialogue: Linklater: “The only reason I’m doing this interview is, you nearly f—in’ died of a heart attack.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Like him or lump him, Smith has enjoyed a distinctive, special career in showbiz, so it’s too bad the biodoc about him isn’t more distinctive and special itself. Clerk consists of all the usual stuff: Peers/family/friends praising and/or sharing anecdotes about the subject, a linear filmography (with clips) and biographical tangents (about weed and hockey and a very brief, weird one about Harvey Weinstein). He talks about how he idolized George Carlin; he doesn’t apologize for Tusk; Matt Damon and Ben Affleck don’t turn up as interviewees until the last 15 minutes, totally late for the party.

The film is essentially a Wikipedia entry with some odd-duck interviewees (Jason Mewes, what a nut, right?) and honest sentimentality — so it’s no surprise to learn that director Malcolm Ingram is a longtime Smith crony. It’s soft and squishy, it drags a bit toward the two-hour mark, it’s reasonably thorough in covering the facts and coloring them with a modicum of insight. Crucially, Ingram captures Smith’s amiable, open sincerity, even though it seems as if Smith is either A) a little guarded and keeps his Kevin Smith Persona up at all times, or B) the Kevin Smith Persona is actually who he is. It’s hard to tell. The film maybe suggests B is true, but might be too timid to actually pose the question and make any clear assertions.

P.S. Disappointingly, the film does not explain what the f— “noiche” means, its origins or why Jay always says it.

P.P.S. Enough with the -NIVERSES. There are far too many -NIVERSES. Pop culture is just a bunch of increasingly wearying -NIVERSES. -NIVERSES, -NIVERSES everywhere -NIVERSES.

Our Call: It’s enjoyable for modest and diehard Smith fans, and may provide a few interesting tidbits to those who came of age seriously watching films from the ’90s. So STREAM IT, although non View Askewers may only find it shrug-worthy.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.